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On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, the Israeli High Court of Justice, in a ground-breaking case, awarded equal funding to Reform and Conservative Jewish conversion programs. The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the legal advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel, originally filed this petition in 2005 against the Immigration Absorption Ministry for discrimination and today the Supreme Court agreed.

To date, the State of Israel funds privately-run conversion centers alongside state centers; however, only Orthodox centers are recognized and therefore only Orthodox centers received state funding.

The State defended its position in court based on the fact that Reform and Conservative conversions are not recognized in Israel.

The Court noted that most converts in Israel immigrated by the Law of Return, but are not Jewish according to halacha, traditional Jewish law. They wish to convert in order to embrace their Jewish identity and to become more integrated into Israeli society, a goal achieved in conversion programs of all Jewish streams.

The Court called the State’s practice of favoring only one Jewish stream discriminatory and contradictory to the State’s responsibility of ensuring freedom of religion: “The duty of the State to pluralism is not only a passive duty, but an active one as well.” They also sited their previous ruling (Naamat and IRAC in 2002) that “Jews in Israel cannot be seen as only one religious sect.”

The verdict in this case calls for all private non-Orthodox conversion programs to be reimbursed retroactively for the years 2006-2009 and for all future funding to be given equally to conversion programs of all Jewish streams.

Attorney Einat Hurvitz, IRAC’s Legal Department Director, responded to the Court’s ruling: “Today's verdict reaffirms the fundamental right to equality and religious freedom by ruling that the State may not discriminate between people based on their choice of Jewish stream. Today, the Court set a precedent, mandating State-funding for religious services of the Reform Movement and other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. We hope that this clear message from the court leads to a change in government policy and puts an end to the exclusion of the Reform movement by the State."